Published 1:45 am, Tuesday, May 10, 2016

One of the great successes of America and the envy of many allies in Europe is our collective ability to effectively assimilate immigrants, legal and otherwise. Sure, sometimes the transformation takes a generation or two to click, and, yes, xenophobia is a problem, but the overall success has made our culture richer, our people more appreciative of our founding values and our nation more of an example of how to blend differences into vigor and strength.

Which is why the findings of a year-long project by Georgetown University Law Center researchers are so damning, particularly revelations that some schools in Texas are declining to enroll the children of immigrant parents — a violation of a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision that slapped down what was then a Democratic-run Texas Legislature that ordered school districts to refuse the enrollment of students not legally in this country.

The Supreme Court majority correctly cited the almighty 14th Amendment as legal grounds to ensure equal protection of such children, who, after all, shouldn't be held liable if they were brought here illegally by parents. More importantly, the justices noted that a consequence of such actions, if allowed to stand, would be "creation and perpetuation of a subclass of illiterates within our boundaries, surely adding to the problems and costs of unemployment, welfare and crime."

Indeed, if Republicans and Democrats ever do get around to reaching compromise on immigration — possibly during the next president's administration, judging from comments by U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan — then refusing to educate immigrant children now could prove disastrous, especially if immigration reform allows youths legal status if not outright citizenship.

"To be sure, like all persons who have entered the United States unlawfully, these children are subject to deportation," the late Justice William Brennan wrote in 1982. "But there is no assurance that a child subject to deportation will ever be deported. An illegal entrant might be granted federal permission to continue to reside in this country or even to become a citizen."

Even Republicans such as former Texas Gov. Rick Perry have wisely noted the importance of ensuring that children of immigrant origins be afforded educations. If these children do become legal residents or even citizens one day, we best ensure they're taxpaying Americans who contribute to the betterment of us all.